WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans elected a leadership team with a distinctively Texan imprint Wednesday and resurrected Trent Lott of Mississippi from a political downfall prompted by his racially insensitive remarks four years ago.

"This is a great honor for us to elect two Texans in leadership," Hutchison said.

Lott squeaked past Tennessean Lamar Alexander by one vote after his last-minute entry in the race for the No. 2 job as minority whip when the Senate convenes in January with a Democratic majority.

Lott was forced to step down as Senate Republican leader in 2002 after an off-the-cuff remark at Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party. Praising the one-time segregationist, Lott said that if the country had elected Thurmond president in 1948, "we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."

On Wednesday, Lott was circumspect about his return to prominence, saying the spotlight should shine on the Republicans' new leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was elected without opposition to replace Bill Frist of Tennessee, who is retiring.

Though tempered in his public remarks, Lott delivered an emotional speech to colleagues after they cast secret ballots during a closed meeting, according to Hutchison. "I just felt like he had a weight lifted off his shoulders," she said.

Hutchison and Cornyn demurred when asked how they had voted in the race, which Lott won 25-24.

The senators, who have had differences over major legislation, presented a united and complimentary front.

"John Cornyn moving into leadership so quickly is a huge big gold star for him," Hutchison said. "It's a wonderful thing for Texas."

For his part, Cornyn said the state's senior senator "has obviously been in leadership for a long time and represents our state so well."

Both have their eye on returning Republicans to majority-party status in 2008.

Hutchison, who will have a role in deciding the GOP agenda, pledged to do so "with the power of our ideas."

She also promised the GOP would seek common ground with Democrats, saying Republicans would "work very well together to move our country forward working with both sides of the Rotunda, both sides of the aisle and with our president."

Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat who engineered his party's Senate takeover, said Congress' ability to be successful depends on the cooperation of Hutchison and other "mainstream" Republicans.

"Are these people going to break free and every so often work with us, which we want to do?" Schumer said to reporters. "That to me is a big question that will determine what kind of Congress we are going to have."

Cornyn, who relishes partisan skirmishing more than Hutchison, has spoken less about bipartisanship. When the GOP was in power, he often denounced Democrats as obstructionists and now says that Senate rules allow the minority plenty of leeway to block the majority party from action.

Part of his job, he said, will be to "help define the principles that we represent and articulate the message that we believe needs to be delivered to the American people so they can understand exactly where we're coming from."